Harry Potter musican battles creditors to keep £400k viola

A CLASSICAL musician is fighting a court battle to stop her £400,000 antique viola being sold by creditors.

Classical musician Kathryn Bassano is fighting to stop her 1803 Ceruti viola being sold [CHAMPION NEWS]

Mother-of-four Kathryn Bassano, who played on the soundtracks of the Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings films, and her renowned conductor husband Peter are battling over her precious 1803 Ceruti viola.

Two fine instrument dealers and a pawnbroker say Mrs Bassano, who has also performed with Madonna, Mick Jagger and Sting, used the viola as security for loans of £280,000.

They are now asking the High Court to order it be sold and the ­proceeds split between them to cover debts which, with interest, are now said to exceed £500,000.

The Bassanos, who live in a ­£3million seven-bedroom home in Great ­Missenden, Bucks, were hit with a £185,000 bill in 2007 after ­losing a court ­battle against builders.

Mr Justice Popplewell yesterday heard claims that three years later Mrs Bassano offered the viola, made by renowned Cremonese craftsman Giovanni Battista Ceruti more than two centuries ago, as security for her loans. The viola is being held by an ­auctioneer. Instrument dealers Alfred Toft and Peter Biddulph, along with pawn­broking company Borro Loan, now want it sold.

Barrister Anthony Allston, for Mr Toft, said his client and Mrs Bassano had signed a loan agreement for £100,000 at a monthly interest rate of 2.5 per cent for a year, using the viola as security.

He said 10 interest payments of £2,500 were made then nothing else – the capital was never repaid.

Mr Toft said the loan was “very much a one-off transaction” and told the judge: “I am not a money lender.”

Mr Bassano, 67, a former member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the Royal College of Music, argued that the instrument dealers’ loans did not ­comply with the 1974 Consumer Credit Act, so could not be enforced.

Mr Bassano, part of a 500-year-old musical dynasty, and his wife are also contesting the validity of Borro Loan’s security over the instrument for a £130,000 loan. The hearing continues.